U.K. Insurers Face 1.1 Billion Pounds in Storm Claims, ABI Says

March 13 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. insurers face 1.1 billion
pounds ($1.8 billion) of claims from storms and flooding in the
wettest winter on record, according to the Association of
British Insurers.

Flooding losses from Dec. 23 to Feb. 28 may reach 446
million pounds, equivalent to about 6.7 million pounds a day,
the industry lobby group said in a statement today. The rest of
the total will come from storm-related damage, it said.

“While, of course, this was a serious and significant bad
weather event, the current flood damage costs remain well below
the severe floods of 2007 when insurers paid out 3 billion
pounds to customers,” Otto Thoresen, ABI’s director general,
said in the statement.

Homes along the River Thames west of London suffered water
damage, while parts of Somerset in southwest England were
submerged after a series of storms in the wettest winter for
some areas since records began. The ABI said insurers received
17,500 flood claims since late December, 9,000 from homeowners,
5,400 for vehicles and 3,100 from businesses.

Aviva Plc, the U.K.’s second-biggest insurer by market
value, last week reported 60 million pounds of claims from the
U.K. floods. Direct Line Insurance Group Plc said in February
that weather losses may cost it as much 110 million pounds.